Friday, January 4, 2008

Well The Blot is about to head out of town for the weekend, but I wanted to post this before I headed out. Here's The Original Human TETRIS, the 4th video performance of the GAME OVER Project, directed by the Swiss artist Guillaume Reymond of the NOTsoNOISY creative agency.

The video was created using stop motion photography and the end result is really cool. Plus, who wasn’t obsessed with TETRIS as a kid? I definitely spent many a school night staying up way too late playing it on my old school Game Boy back in my younger days.

Is this a joke? I’m not even questioning its validity because it sounds like something Cook would do. What The Blot wants to know is who in the hell is sitting at a comedy club in those really uncomfortable seats for 7 straight hours listening to Dane Cook ramble on about the things Dane Cook rambles about!?! I love Dane as much as the next guy, but after 2 hours my butt would start falling asleep and I’d be glancing at my watch every 10 seconds wondering when his show would end.

If you haven’t heard or didn’t gleam from the post’s title, “Dane Cook has broken a Laugh Factory endurance record set less than a month ago by Dave Chappelle” by performing for 7 straight hours Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in Los Angeles. (link) The history given by the article is actually pretty interesting. Evidently Richard Pryor had held the record since 1980 with a record of 2 hours and 41 minutes. This record stood for over 25 years until Cook broke it last April with a Stand-Up act of 3 hours and 50 minutes. Chappelle, having none of that, went on to break it twice since then, once later that April and again in December with a set of 6 hours and 12 minutes. (link)

I’m just praying this showmanship ends here. A 2-3 hour set is impressive and neat for the audience once in a blue moon (and the comedian is probably still funny to the audience). But, when we’re talking 4-7+ hours then things just start getting silly. It’s not only impossible to stay funny for that long but you know you’ve lost your audience when half of them are asleep in their seats. Either that or they’re not even there for the comedy anymore but instead just the anomaly of seeing a new record set. At that point is it still comedy or has the comedian turned into some twisted version of David Blaine without the cool illusions?

Dane didn’t end his set until almost 7 a.m. Wednesday morning and there was still an audience, do people not work in L.A.? At least the article says he “sent out for food to keep the audience fed and happy.” (link) Um, I don’t think it’s possible to be happy at 5:30 a.m. listening to stand-up unless you’re really drunk or there was some non-prescribed medicine snuck into the audience’s food. I wanted to go see Dane when he came to Houston on tour, but after hearing about this I’d be too afraid to go in the off chance he wanted to set a new record and I was locked into my seat for the next 10 hours.

What the article didn’t mention, but I’m assuming to be the case, is that this is a Laugh Factory record and not an actually documented all time stand-up comedy record. But I can’t imagine a comedian has ever set out to accomplish such a monumental feat as a 7 hour set before, so maybe. It’s just that the 2 hours and 41 minute set by Pryor in 1980 doesn’t seem that ridiculously long that no one in 27 years thought to try and break it. Who knows, maybe we’ll hear some tale of a young Paul Reiser before his rise to fame in My Two Dads performing a set in Butte, Montana to 15 people for 3 hours and 38 minutes. It could have happened, right?

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Not one to shy away from rubbing it in, The Blot would just like to draw the Nation's attention to the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team's record in its last 4 appearances in BCS Games. It's 0-4. If you need more clarification on Oklahoma's 0-4 record over the past 5 years please see ESPN's graphic below.

Of course as a Texas Longhorns fan I have to admit that to have an 0-4 record over the past 5 years means OU has made it to a few more BCS games than Texas has in recent years. That's really unfortunate, but at least when Texas makes it to the big games they come to play (Texas is 2-0 in BCS games in that same 5 year span).

The Blot saw this on Yahoo Sports today and thought it was too funny not to share. It’s a YouTube video created by Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Chris Bosh stumping for your vote for this year’s NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. The guy wants to be a starter on this year’s East All-Star squad and the only way to do so is by winning the fan vote at your position.

The problem is Bosh is going up against two huge superstars at his position, Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Honestly, there’s no way Bosh beats the two of them out considering that a) they’re two of the biggest stars in the NBA and b) they are already the leading vote getters in the Eastern Conference. (link) But, after seeing this video he’ll definitely be getting my vote. It took a lot of creativity and guts to put this together, and with Bosh averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds a game this year he is at least a lock to make his third All-Star team.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Well it's been rumored about for weeks but today the University of Texas released a statement that junior running back Jamaal Charles will be leaving school early and entering the NFL draft. Charles had a tremendous year and I for one will be sad to see him go. Jamaal ended the season with 1,619 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns and currently ranks fourth in career rushing yards at the University of Texas behind only Heisman Trophy winners Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams and Doak Walker award winner Cedric Benson. (link) Who knows what records and accolades would have come Charles’ way if only he had decided to return to Austin for his senior season.

You really can’t blame Charles for leaving, the Longhorns have continually underutilized him and never once did the Horns’ coaching staff attempt to focus our offensive game plan around his unique rushing skills. And yet game after game this year there was Jamaal, willing to give his all and pull the Longhorns out of the fire in the fourth quarter of games. Just look at the Nebraska game where he had an astounding 216 yards and three TDs in the fourth quarter alone. (link) It is only appropriate that Charles leave school after another great performance against Arizona State in the 2007 Holiday Bowl. With 161 yards and two touchdowns in his final college game, cementing a seventh straight 10 win season for Texas, #25 can leave his college football career behind with his head held high and the knowledge that the fumbles that plagued his career a distant memory in the minds and hearts of Texas fans everywhere.

What’s really amazing about Charles leaving early for the NFL is that in the 10 years since Mack Brown took over as head coach of the Texas Longhorns, Charles and quarterback Vince Young are the only two players to ever leave the program early for the NFL. (link) That is really an incredible statistic for college athletics in this day and age, especially for a major football program like Texas. I don’t know what Mack says to these young men but Texas fans have definitely be spoiled to not have to worry about losing their star players early for the NFL and the riches it offers. We in the Longhorn Nation can only hope this does not start a trend of student-athletes leaving early for the draft. As always, only time will tell.

So instead of dragging out my favorite albums of 2007 into 2008, I thought it better to wrap it up so I can move on to more interesting stories circulating around the web. Therefore, in no particular order, here are more of The Blot’s Favorite Albums from 2007 that you should check out and give a listen!

As I stated earlier I’m not including the obvious selections like Kanye West’s Graduation or The Polyphonic Spree’s The Fragile Army. If you haven’t picked up those two albums yet nothing I say is going to get you moving. Instead, I’m focusing on some great albums that haven’t gotten the publicity they deserve. And yes I know some of these artists were on SNL this year, but let’s be honest who’s watching Saturday Night Live anymore? I’ve gone ahead and listed the label and type of music underneath each artist in case you’d like some additional information on each artist before heading out to check out each musician’s website. Do some surfing and enjoy…

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Well its officially 2008, but I figured there was still time left to recap 2007. I wanted to do a The Blot’s Favorite Television Shows of 2007, but thought I’d just be giving publicity to a lot of shows already getting tons of pub. So instead I decided to narrow down the focus and shine the spotlight on shows often over looked because they’re on cable and not on the big four (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox). Sorry CW, you’re not one of the big boys yet, but I’m still going to leave you off this list since you’re technically a broadcast station. And you won’t see The Sopranos or Entourage making the list this year, there’s no grandfathering in for past success. Both had considerably down seasons this past year and got pushed out by some little engines that could.

So here it goes, The Blot’s Top 10 Cable Television shows of 2007! If you want to find out more about these great shows, when they air or how you can catch up on past seasons, feel free to click on the names of each show and you’ll be taken to that show’s official website.

Monday, December 31, 2007

Well it's New Year's Eve and before The Blot starts getting ready to end 2007 with a bang and welcome in 2008 with hangover, I wanted to wish all of The Blot Says... readers a very happy and healthy new year. Hopefully 2008 will be even better than 2007!

And remember to check back with The Blot Says... in 2008 for some exciting things to come!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

This Brooklyn, NY indie rock band might just be one of The Blot’s favorite bands. While many consider 2006 to have been Bishop Allen’s year due to their release of a 4 song EP every month of 2006, I just couldn’t pass up talking about their sophomore album. Bishop Allen & The Broken String, released July of ’07 by the Austin, TX label Dead Oceans, takes many of the best tracks from their 2006 EPs, re-records them, and the result is just an amazing second album.

Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who make up the core of Bishop Allen, are fantastic song writers and performers. They, along with a rotating cast of musicians, have made two unique indie pop albums (the first being 2003’s Charm School) that are extremely fun and catchy. Already Bishop Allen & The Broken String is making waves through the entertainment industry as their songs have been prominently featured on television shows (Ugly Betty, Aliens In America) and in a recent Sony camera ad, which has aired during NFL games this season. Feel free to check out two songs off of Bishop Allen & The Broken String and one song from Charm School below.

You can download Bishop Allen’s sophomore album Bishop Allen & The Broken String for free by signing up for eMusic's no risk trial offer for 25 free MP3s. Click here to sign up today.

Friday, December 28, 2007

The Forbes Fictional 15 is back! Thanks to faithful reader Mark for alerting me to its release. The past three years Forbes has complied a list of the richest fictional characters as if they were flesh and blood (they even give a rationale for each character as to how they determined the character’s worth in today’s economic climate).

The characters that make up the list come from all different kinds of fiction, books, television, comics, movies and once even a real life e-mail campaign. The only complaint I have is that former #1, Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks (from Annie), has not only been unseated as the richest fictional character, but he has fallen completely out of the top 15. It must have been a very good year for the other 15 characters comprising this year’s list.

Making his first appearance in the number one spot as richest fictional character is none other than Scrooge McDuck. Rounding out the top 5 is Ming the Merciless (from Flash Gordon), Richie Rich, Mom (from Futurama) and Jed Clampett (from The Beverly Hillbillies). You can read about who rounds out the Forbes Fictional 15 list here.

I’m actually pretty disappointed in this year’s list in that many of the fictional characters I felt deserved to be on the list in years past were taken off for newer characters without a valid reason for their inclusion. After checking out the rest of the 2007 Forbes Fictional 15 take a look at the 2006 Forbes Fictional 15 and the 2005 Forbes Fictional 15 to compare. I’d love to hear thoughts from all of you on fictional characters that should need to be added to the list and which ones should have never been included on the list in the first place. I for one think Lex Luthor (from Superman) should always be ranked in the top 15…but then again what do I know?

Instead of a generic “The Blot’s Top Albums of 2007” list, I thought I’d pick out a few albums I’ve really enjoyed this year that for some reason or another haven’t gotten the attention from the mass media they deserve.

The first band on this list is the White Rabbits. This six piece indie rock band from New York City via Columbia, Missouri released their debut album Fort Nightly on Say Hey Records. It’s rare these days to find a six piece rock band with two drum kits, but the White Rabbits pull it off really nicely. According to their bio on eMusic, “the White Rabbits refer to their music as honky tonk calypso.” The Blot has no idea what that means but the album is awesome and has been playing in my car for months. The first single from the album “The Plot” is great and you can download an MP3 of the song below.

I had the opportunity to see the White Rabbits last summer in Chicago at Lollapalooza 2007. When the band was added last minute I was super excited to catch them live until I saw they were scheduled as the opening band Sunday morning, meaning to see their set I’d have to wake up super early. With some groaning by Al we decided to set the alarm and head down to Grant Park. I think we’re both glad we did because the show was great and the album translated really well to a live set. It was just unfortunate they were on so early because a majority of the festival attendees (who typically don’t show up until after lunch) missed out.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

The Blot just got back from seeing National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and you know what? It was really quite good. So good even Nic Cage’s bad acting couldn’t ruin the film for me. Now I loved the first National Treasure and both it and the sequel did well at the box office, but there’s just something about a Nicolas Cage movie that makes me uneasy. Maybe it’s the fact that 8 of his past 10 movies (Next, The Wicker Man, World Trade Center, The Weather Man, Lord of War and Matchstick Men) haven’t interested me in the least and most did not do well at the box office. The only non-National Treasure Nicolas Cage movie I even remotely wanted to see was Ghost Rider, and that was only because it was based on a comic book. But I liked the first National Treasure so much and felt the role of Benjamin Franklin Gates suited Cage so well that I knew I needed to see the sequel.

Thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. Obviously as with any Disney movie there were some cheesy, unneeded moments, but overall it was everything you would want in a holiday adventure movie….it had great action scenes, an entertaining comedic sidekick (Justin Bartha reprising his role as Riley Poole), an on again/off again romance with Diane Kruger reprising her role as Abigail Chase and the requisite bad guy played by villain extraordinaire Ed Harris (Pollock, Stepmom, A History of Violence).

Probably the worst part of the movie was the Disney cartoon short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater starring Goofy showed before National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I have no idea why they felt the need to include thi,s but it was dreadfully awful and unnecessary. If I felt the need to watch a cartoon of Goofy clumsily putting together a home theater in the style of an old school Disney short I’d turn on the Disney Channel more often…that is if the Disney Channel ever showed those old Disney cartoons anymore instead of High School Musical 1 & 2 over and over again. But I digress…anyway, if you’re in the mood for some mindless fun this holiday weekend I recommend checking out National Treasure: Book of Secrets and you might even learn some fictitious history!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

While The Blot is at home enjoying his extended winter break and hanging up some pictures in his new home, I wanted to share this new funny and entertaining video by the crew over at JibJab. In 2007 is “a recap of all the ridiculous, note-worthy and ridiculously note-worthy events and people of 2007.” (link) Unfortunately JibJab isn’t letting people embed the video yet, so you have to travel over to JibJab.com to check out all the zaniness.

While you might not recognize the name JibJab, you probably have seen their very first video, a send-up of the 2004 Presidential election between President George Bush and Senator John Kerry called This Land. I’ve gone ahead and embedded it below for anyone who missed it the first time around.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Welcome to The Blot Says... holiday edition. This will most likely be my only post of the day as I continue to unpack, but I wanted to post the answer to this week's The Blot Says... Trivia Contest. I figured it was time to end 7 days worth of speculation. Unfortunately no one got the right answer this time around, so no one can be awarded a No Prize. Better luck next time!

I heard this question mentioned during last weeks Broncos/Texans game. It was in reference to Mike Shanahan and the fact that he was one of three coaches who had coached a team 10 years and had more championships than losing seasons. (link) Too bad for Shanahan that his time in that illustrious group is about to come to an end. You see the Broncos are 6-9 and with only one game left in the season and no hope of making the playoffs, Denver is already a lock to have a losing record this year. Good thing I asked this question now and not in two weeks!

The second head coach that has coached a team 10 years and had more championships than losing seasons is the immortal John Madden. Madden won one Super Bowl as the coach of the Oakland Raiders and never had a losing season while their coach. It’s a wonder he didn't coach them for longer. Did you know this Hall of Fame coach's .759 winning percentage during the regular season ranks as highest ever among coaches with 100 career victories? (link) The guy was a coaching legend. It's a shame people my age only know him for his video games and his time in the broadcast booth, even though he very well could have gotten into the Hall of Fame for either of those contributions if he had never coached a game.

The third coach that no one was able to come up with was Hall of Fame member and coaching legend Paul Brown. While the Cincinnati Bengals’ stadium bares his name, Brown was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame before he ever coached for Cinci. Brown forged his coaching legacy while leading the Cleveland Browns to a 167-53-8 record, four AAFC titles and three NFL crowns in 17 years with only one losing season. (link)

The bonus question's answer is another Hall of Famer, Joe Gibbs. There was some confusion here, but the question said the head coach had to have coached a team 10 years, it did not say later non-consecutive seasons were not counted. The first time Gibbs coached the Washington Redskins he had 10 winning seasons, 1 losing season, one 8-8 season and 3 Super Bowl victories. But, Gibbs couldn’t stay away from the game he loved and came back to coach the Redskins in 2004. Since that time he's had one winning season and two losing seasons bringing his overall time with the Redskins to three championships and three losing seasons. Gibbs shouldn't fret too much because with one more victory this weekend he will be leading his 'skins back to the playoffs.

One coach that spent over 10 seasons with one team and definitely had more championships than losing seasons with that team is Curly Lambeau, founder of the Packers and its first head coach and playing captain. He won 6 championships while coaching the Packers and had only 1 losing season. I know Mark mentioned him in his answer, but everywhere I've looked they only list Brown, Shanahan and Madden in the answer. The only reason I can think of for his exclusion is that while he coached over 10 seasons with the packers and won 6 championships, he also had 6 losing seasons throughout his time as a head coach in the NFL. The question doesn’t say the losing seasons all have to be with the same team. I know this is a technicality and I can't find it explained anywhere, but this is the only rationale I can come up with for his exclusion from the answer.

Thanks to everyone who submitted an answer, and I'll try to come up with a non-sports related question for next time so others can participate!